The SurRural Librarian

I work in a rural town with no broadband internet. The only choices the families have for internet at home is dial-up and satellite (which is crazy expensive).

These photos of the first students to receive their laptops through the One Laptop Per Child program are inspirational, to say the least.

You know, I’ve heard many say Why in Nigeria but not in the U.S.? or Why laptops rather than food/medicine/infrastructure? Valid questions, but you just can’t deny the powerful messages these photos impart. I wish I had been in this room at this moment.

Is his speech announcing his candidacy Saturday, Barak Obmama called for finally getting broadband into underserved population areas. He also decried the lack of computers in schools.

I think it’s just remarkable that in the speech announcing his candidacy, he talked about internet access. This was not a little speech made to a select group of geeky supporters.

You can watch Saturday’s speech here.

When you’re done with that, check out MyBarakaObama.com - it’s a Facebook for the Obama crowd.

It’s amazing how much of the public discourse is happening online. Our kids need to be part of that conversation. We’ve got to make sure they know how to use 2.0 type applications. If we’re not, we are not serving our students.

Treehugger is reporting on a new Solar Wi-Fi project that will be piloted this year in India…

Their wi-fi access nodes, which consist of a small solar panel, a heavy-duty battery, and a router, can be linked together to extend one internet connection into a larger network.

This just screams Vermont. The vast majority of the homes in the towns I teach in are still on dial up, and will be for the forseeable future. This would be such a hit.